Imizamo Yethu builders back to 'see progress'

A group of Irish volunteers have arrived in Hout Bay's township Imizamo Yethu to build reak, houses for the inhabitants.

Some of the more than 200 Irish volunteers who are in the country to build homes for the residents of Imizamo Yethu, a township in Hout Bay near Cape Town, are back on the job for the third year running.

They were digging, building, pushing wheelbarrows and transporting cement in the heat on Sunday and some had even shed their shirts to keep cool.

The 200 volunteers will be joined by 500 more volunteers who are coming to Cape Town to aid the Niall Mellon Township Project, which is now in its third year.

The 700 volunteers aim to build more than one hundred homes in Imizamo Yethu over two weeks and more than 150 volunteers are participating in the project for the second and sometimes third time.

When Irish businessman Mellon started the project to build houses and grant interest-free loans, there were three permanent buildings in the township - now there are 350.

Michael Hughes, 25, is out at Imizamo Yethu for the first time and said when he arrived he was incredulous. "I couldn't believe that people actually lived like this and it was difficult for me to see all the beautiful beaches and all the wealth and then just see poverty," he said.

Hughes said when he compared his life in Ireland to that of those in Imizamo Yethu he realised he was living in the lap of luxury. He felt he had to do something to improve the situation of those who were less fortunate.

The Irish volunteers - block-layers, labourers, electricians, plumbers and property developers - each had to raise at least €4 000 (about R32 540) to participate in the project. They will work with the 80 local subcontractors permanently employed by the project.

(Source: The Cape Argus, 1 October 2005)

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